Facebook Ads ROI for Local Business: Real Numbers & What to Expect

The Honest Truth About Facebook Ads ROI

Let's cut through the marketing BS. Facebook ads for local businesses can work incredibly well—or they can be a complete waste of money. The difference isn't magic; it's understanding your numbers.

Here's what we see across local business clients:

• Good: 3-5x return on ad spend (ROAS)
• Great: 6-10x ROAS
• Exceptional: 10-15x ROAS
• Warning signs: Below 2x ROAS consistently

Note that these are returns on AD SPEND, not total investment. If you're paying an agency $1,000/month to manage $2,000/month in ad spend, your total investment is $3,000. You need $6,000+ in revenue to hit a true 2x ROI.

Case Study: Dental Practice ($1K → $13K)

Here's a real example from one of our clients—a dental practice in the suburbs of Dallas.

Setup:

• Monthly ad spend: $2,000 on Meta (Facebook/Instagram)
• Management fee: $1,000/month
• Total investment: $3,000/month

Results after 90 days:

• New patient appointments from ads: 22-28/month
• Show rate: 85%
• Patients who showed: ~22/month
• Average first-visit revenue: $350 (exam, cleaning, X-rays)
• Patients converting to treatment plans: 45%
• Average treatment plan value: $1,200

Monthly revenue generated:

• First visits: 22 × $350 = $7,700
• Treatment plans: 10 × $1,200 = $12,000
• Total: $19,700/month from $3,000 investment
• ROI: 6.5x

And that doesn't count the lifetime value of those patients—recall visits, referrals, additional treatments. The true ROI over 12 months is closer to 15x.

Case Study: HVAC Company ($1K → $8K)

A different model—a seasonal HVAC company in Phoenix.

Setup:

• Monthly ad spend: $1,500 (seasonal variation)
• Management fee: $1,000/month
• Total investment: $2,500/month

Summer season results (May-September):

• Leads generated: 45-60/month
• Conversion rate: 35%
• Jobs booked: 18/month average
• Average repair job: $450
• Percentage converting to replacement: 20%
• Average replacement: $8,500

Monthly revenue:

• Repairs: 15 × $450 = $6,750
• Replacements: 3 × $8,500 = $25,500
• Total: $32,250/month from $2,500 investment
• Summer ROI: 12.9x

Off-season (winter in Phoenix) is slower—around $8,000-12,000/month. Year-round ROI averages 6-8x.

What Makes Local Ads Work (Or Fail)

Why Some Businesses Crush It

• High customer lifetime value: Dental, legal, home services—customers are worth $2,000-$50,000+ over time. You can afford $50-150 to acquire them.
• Fast follow-up: Leads contacted within 5 minutes convert 9x better than those contacted after 30 minutes. AI voice agents and chatbots help here.
• Clear offer: "Free AC tune-up" beats "Quality HVAC service." Specific beats generic.
• Tight targeting: Within 15-20 miles unless your service area is larger. Targeting everyone wastes budget.
• Tracking everything: If you don't know which ads drive revenue (not just leads), you can't optimize.

Why Some Businesses Fail

• Slow follow-up: Calling leads the next day means they've already hired your competitor.
• No tracking: "I think we got some calls" isn't data. You need to track lead source to closed revenue.
• Wrong expectations: Ads aren't instant magic. Month 1 is learning. Months 2-3 show real results.
• Bottom-feeding pricing: If you're competing on lowest price, ads amplify a bad business model. Race-to-bottom gets ugly.
• Bad landing pages: Sending traffic to your homepage instead of a dedicated, conversion-optimized page wastes 30-50% of clicks.

Facebook vs Google for Local Business

You'll hear people argue about which is better. The answer: it depends on your business.

Facebook/Meta Ads Work Best When:

• Your service isn't immediately urgent (people scroll Facebook, they don't search "AC broken" there)
• You have an offer that stops the scroll (discount, free inspection, etc.)
• Visual before/after or demonstrations help sell (cosmetic dentistry, home remodeling)
• You want to build brand awareness alongside direct response

Google Ads Work Best When:

• It's an emergency service (plumber for leak, locksmith, emergency dental)
• People actively search for your service when they need it
• Higher intent = higher close rate, even at higher cost per click

Best approach: Test both. Start with $1,000/month each for 90 days. Let data decide. Most local businesses end up using both—Google for emergency/high-intent, Facebook for awareness and offers.

How Much Should You Spend?

Rule of thumb for local businesses:

• Minimum viable: $1,500/month ad spend + management. Below this, you don't have enough data to optimize.
• Sweet spot: $3,000-5,000/month total for most local businesses. Enough scale to optimize without massive risk.
• Scaling up: Only increase spend after hitting 4x+ ROAS consistently. Pouring more money into bad ads just loses money faster.

The "10% Rule"

Many successful local businesses allocate 8-12% of revenue to marketing, with paid ads being 50-70% of that. So a $500,000/year business might spend $40,000-50,000/year on marketing, with $25,000-35,000 on paid ads.

DIY vs Agency: Real Talk

DIY Ads

Pros: No management fee. Full control. Learn the platform.

Cons: Takes 10+ hours/week to do well. Steep learning curve. Mistakes are expensive. Most people don't stick with it.

Best for: Business owners with marketing aptitude and time, or very tight budgets (under $1,500/month total).

Agency Management

Pros: Professional optimization. Time savings. Better results (usually). Accountability.

Cons: Management fee ($800-2,000/month typical for local). Trust required. Agency quality varies wildly.

Best for: Business owners whose time is worth more than the management fee, or anyone serious about scaling.

At Brandverse, we charge $1,000/month flat to manage Meta, Google, and TikTok ads. You pay your ad spend directly to the platforms. No percentage-of-spend pricing that incentivizes us to waste your money.

Getting Started: First 90 Days

Month 1: Foundation

• Set up tracking (Meta Pixel, Google Tag Manager, call tracking)
• Build landing pages for each service
• Launch initial campaigns with proven frameworks
• Collect data—don't make big changes yet

Month 2: Optimization

• Identify winning audiences and creative
• Cut underperformers
• Scale what's working
• A/B test offers and landing pages

Month 3: Scale

• Increase budget on proven winners
• Expand to additional platforms if warranted
• Fine-tune for maximum ROI
• Set baseline metrics for ongoing optimization

FAQ

"How fast will I see results?"

Leads: Day 1-7. Quality leads: Week 2-3. Consistent ROI: 60-90 days. Anyone promising instant results doesn't understand the platform.

"What if it doesn't work?"

Pause, analyze, adjust. Sometimes a business model doesn't fit paid ads—low margin, small market, no differentiation. But most local service businesses see positive ROI with proper execution.

"What makes your agency different?"

We only work with local service businesses. We have AI voice agents and chatbots that ensure fast lead response (the #1 driver of conversion). And we charge flat fees, so our incentive is your results, not your ad spend.